Time to go: Man City simply must try and cash in on this £9m-rated star this summer

Manchester City supporters have been making a lot of noise in the Transfer Tavern in the last few hours after seeing their team brush aside Basel 4-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 clash in Switzerland on Tuesday.

Pep Guardiola’s men went into their encounter with the Swiss Super League champions off the back of thumping Leicester City 5-1 in the Premier League on Saturday, a result which moved them 16 points clear at the summit of the division. And the Citizens are well-placed to achieve Champions League glory this term by all but sealing their place in the last eight on Tuesday night, with a brace from Ilkay Gundogan as well as strikes from Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero sealing a 4-0 success ahead of the return leg at the Etihad Stadium in three weeks’ time.

Subsequently, there have been many thrilled City fans in the Tavern in recent times, several of whom are daring to dream about what their side could go on to achieve come the end of the season, both domestically and in European competition.

In the meantime though, the attentions of some of our resident Citizens supporters are turning towards the summer, and to who the club could seek to bring in and indeed get rid off ahead of the 2018/19 campaign.

And one man who the Citizens should seek to try and cash in on this summer is defender Vincent Kompany, what with his contract up in 2019 (as per Transfermarkt).

The Belgium international has been an outstanding servant to the North West outfit since his £6 million move from Hamburg back in 2008, captaining the team to two Premier League titles in 2012 and 2014, as well as various other domestic trophies.

More importantly though, the 31-year-old was often the man that used to hold the City defence together over the years, with it widely regarded that when Kompany played, the Citizens were immediately a more solid and resolute defensive outfit.

But that particular notion doesn’t ring as true anymore, with the centre-back thwarted by injuries in the last few years, to the point that he has not exceeded 30 Premier League appearances in a season since their title-winning triumph back in 2012 – he won’t this term either.

Guardiola is still relying on Kompany to a certain extent – he played the full 90 minutes in Basel on Tuesday – but the Spaniard has ultimately set up the future of the Man City defence by spending big money acquiring John Stones and Aymeric Laporte in the last few years.

And with Kompany turning 32 in April, gone are the days in which the Belgian ace was the first name on the City teamsheet – the Citizens are slowly moving on from the Mancini/Pellegrini era into a potential ‘dynasty’ under Guardiola.

Kompany’s contract expires at the end of the 2018/19 season, and while it’s not out of the question that the club won’t offer him a new deal, it’s certainly not a given.

As such, the Premier League champions-elect should seriously consider cashing in on the £9 million-rated (as per Transfermarkt) this summer.